'Sons of Anarchy' scores a fifth season on FX

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The current season of “Sons of Anarchy” is breaking ratings records for FX, so the announcement Monday (Oct. 17) that the show has been picked up for a fifth season isn’t much of a surprise.

Which is not to say it isn’t welcome. “SOA” will be back for Season 5 in 2012 (specific dates haven’t been set, but expect an early fall debut along the lines of this and past seasons). Season 4, meanwhile, continues through Nov. 29.

“Everyone at FX is very grateful to [creator] Kurt Sutter, his many writing, directing and producing collaborators and his masterful cast for making such a compelling and beautifully crafted show,” FX president and general manager John Landgraf says. “It is no small challenge to bring the themes of a great, ancient play like ‘Hamlet’ into a wholly original television setting and to tell his complex story in a way that is both riveting and accessible to a broad audience.”

First-run episodes of “Sons of Anarchy” are averaging 5.8 million viewers a week this season (including DVR viewing), with about two-thirds of those viewers falling in the adults 18-49 demographic. Its total audience is up 30 percent over last year, and its 18-49 ratings have risen by 26 percent. Add in multiple replays, and each episode is being seen by 9 million viewers.

“SOA” is about halfway through its current season; Tuesday’s (Oct. 18) episode finds SAMCRO dealing with the fallout from a death threat against Tara (Maggie Siff).